Answer to Question #20322 in Optics for liton

Question

what is refractive index?write down the refractive index of water and compare your result?

Answer 1

The refractive index is used inoptics as a parameter for any substance to characterize how radiation, in particular, light, behaves propagating through this substance. In particular, it determines the refraction angle on a border of two mediums, and the speed of propagation. For water, the refractive index in the visible light spectrum is n = 1.33, but it differs for other wavelengths (the phenomena of refractive index dispersion).